One Small Problem
by FennecFox11
Summary: Chris did die by Gideon's athame, but death is rarely definite in the Halliwell family. Now he's stuck in the past with no way home and no way out, at least not until he can talk.
1. Default Chapter

There was blood on the bed beneath him. Blood seeping out of his own body. With every ounce he felt a little colder.

He idly wondered what would happen to his body if he died. Hopefully it would return to his time or just fade away, save his mom the dry cleaning bill for the comforter he was ruining.

He tried to take a deep breath and heard the blood in his lungs. A wave of panic swept over him as he realized how little time he had left.

Maybe if he could get to the book he could reverse Gideon's magic. He tried to shift his position on the bed but was nearly knocked out by the pain that radiated from his wound.

"Relax," he thought to himself, "Leo… no… Dad, will fix everything."

Suddenly he heard slamming doors and voices downstairs. He could sense Paige in the house now, and was that Darryl with her? It was getting harder to tell, everything was muddled up in his mind.

His eyes closed on their own and when they opened again he was staring at a gun pointed between his eyes. He didn't feel any panic, it was almost like he was detached from himself.

He drifted out again and this time when he came back his Dad was there.

"Chris…" Leo started as he ran into the room. Chris tried to pull himself together for his dad's sake, "Hey…" But that was as far as he got, the pull was stronger now.

He was fighting to hang on and he could hear his Dad talking to him. "I'm here now, you can hold on. Don't give up." 

Chris wanted to tell him he loved him and to protect Wyatt and so many other things swirling around in his head. All he could manage was "You either." And he lost the fight.

He felt his spirit detach from his body. _That was a weird feeling_. He thought to himself as he watched his body fade.   
  
There was no pain as he floated up through the ceiling and out of the house. He let the pull take over. Up was good, well, it was better than down, he thought. 

No sooner had the thought popped into his head, than another force, a stronger one started pulling him back down. His sprit willingly obliged and drifted back down to Earth. It felt like he was being poured through a funnel, swirled in an invisible tornado.

He tried to look around but all of a sudden his vision was gone, along with his hearing and touch and everything else. Then he was solid again.

_Hey, this is more like it. _He thought. _Dad must've found a way to bring me back_. He worked to open his eyes and finally they complied, his vision was fuzzy, but he could see white everywhere.

He was still trying to get his bearings when someone hit him. Hard. He heard himself cry out. _Ouch! What the hell was that? Who's hitting me? _He tried to talk but his mouth didn't seem to want to listen to him either.

His sight was still getting clearer and he could tell he was in a hospital, but why? Whoever had just hit him was picking him up and setting him on a bed. He didn't recognize the face but he looked like a surgeon.

The man was smiling down at him "It's a boy." The doctor said. _  
_

_Of course I'm a boy _he thought irritatedly. _Where'd you get your PhD from? _ He tried to rub the last of the cloudiness out of his eyes and caught sight of his hand for the first time.

_Oh no, what's wrong with my hand. That's not my hand. It's too tiny. Why am I in a hospital and why is everyone else so big? Why can't I talk and where is Dad?_

Someone shuttled his bed into another room and started bathing him. _Oh geez, I'm naked! _He was humiliated and tried to roll away but strong hands kept him in place "It's alright little guy, you're okay now. We're going to take very good care of you here, I promise."

He needed to see Leo, he could tell him what was going on. He would orb up and check with The Elders and everything would be fine.

"Do you want to go meet your Daddy?" The woman asked him. _Yes! Please, take me to see him. _He tried to exclaim, but all that came out of his mouth was an embarrassing gurgle of happiness. _This can't be happening_ he thought miserably as he was wrapped up in a blue blanket.

The same arms that had held him down and bathed him were now picking him up again and taking him somewhere. He saw a set of double doors open and there was his family. _  
_

_Oh thank God._ He thought. The nurse handed him to Leo.

He could hear the doctor talking to Leo "Congratulations, he's perfectly healthy"

_Yeah, I'm great_ Chris thought. _What am I supposed to do now? _He wondered. He squirmed in Leo's arms, frustrated.

Paige was looking at him and he heard her say "Looks like we didn't lose him after all." Could she tell? No, she was just being sentimental. "_Aunt Paige!_" He tried to yell. He yawned.

He was moving again. Leo was taking him over to Piper. _Mom?__ Can you hear me? _ _Wow, she really looks awful. This is all my fault_. _ I am so sorry._ He wanted to tell her how terrible he felt that she had to have a C-section, apologize for being so much trouble. Leo handed him to her.

For a moment, looking up at his mother's face, he forgot his desire to go back to the future or on to the Great Beyond or whatever else he was meant for. She was beaming down at him and she looked so happy. _Maybe this is my second chance… _

_No way._ He dismissed the thought as quickly as it had occurred to him. He was not meant to be a 23 year old stuck in the infant body of his past self. Even if he did want to be with his Mom again, there was no way he was staying like this.

_What am I going to do? _He thought miserably. This is impossible. How do I fix this when I can't even tell anyone what's wrong. Helplessness surged through his miniature sized body and he did the only thing he could. He cried.


	2. Chapter 2

The Disclaimer: Charmed does not belong to me, neither does Drew. Or at least that's what the therapist says.

"Shh, it's okay. Mommy's got you. What are you crying about sweetheart?"

His mom was looking at him with a concerned expression and smoothing his hair.

Come to think of it, why was he crying? He hardly ever cried... unless... _Oh man! _He realized that along with having little or no muscle control over his body, he had limited control over his emotions.

_Just terrific, I have the emotional stability of a newborn. This is getting better by the moment. I need to figure out a way to fix this, fast. _

_Ok, think. Who do I know that can sense something is wrong with me? _The only telepath he knew was two years old right now. _Probably not going to be a big help. _

_Hey, Aunt Phoebe should be able to sense that something is wrong emotionally in here. Someone hand me to Phoebe. _He squirmed in his mom's arms hoping somehow she'd get the message. No go. She readjusted him in her arms.

"Hey little man, you hungry?" She softly questioned him.

Actually, come to think of it, he was. He settled down as if to say yes, feed me.

_Ugh, back to bottles, could this day get any- Wait, what is she doing? _Piper let go of him with one arm and started unbuttoning the hospital gown. _Oh! No, no, no, no_! He struggled with her and actually turned himself slightly away from her.

_I was born with orbing, and if I've ever needed it, it's now_. He searched for that familiar place in his mind _C'mon, where is-- almost-- aha!_

He felt the orbs start at his heart and then they engulfed his whole body. _Aunt Phoebe. _He thought, and seconds later he was looking into her smiling but uncertain face.

From his vantage point across the room he could see his mom's expression go from fear, to relief, to concerned sadness. _Sorry mom, but it's for the best. You'll thank me later._

_Okay, un-babylike emotions. _Just then Phoebe started doing baby faces.

_Were her teeth always that huge?_ _Easy enough, annoyance._ He tried to telepathically send her an annoyance whammy. _  
  
C'mon, why isn't this working? _He wondered, meanwhile Phoebe was still making goofy faces. _How are you one of the legendary Charmed Ones? You're as dense as a rock!_ He tried directing all of his anger at her, but again, no response.

"I could swear if he could he'd be rolling his eyes at you right now." Paige commented, laughing at Phoebe.

"I don't know what's the matter with him," Phoebe said. "Wyatt always liked this. I wish I had my powers right now, it's so much easier to understand babies when you're an empath."

Chris mentally groaned in frustration. Of course she couldn't sense him, this was the point in the timeline she didn't have powers. He should've remembered that, he'd lived it just months ago. Well there went his one opportunity.

His dad's face loomed over him. "Hey buddy! Your first orb, I'm so proud of you, but you can't be doing that in public, that's a big No-No."

_Leo, look at me! This is not a baby, this is your 23 year old son. Look me in the eye, can't you tell there's something wrong? _He sighed in frustration when nothing happened.  
  
His dad took his hand and jiggled it. "We'd better get you home, magical babies and hospitals don't usually go good together." He looked to Piper. "As long as it's ok with you, Mom."   
  
"Yeah, I'll be fine, you guys get home and take Wyatt, it's late."

"Paige, could you find our doctor so we can take Chris?" Leo asked her.

"Sure, I'll be right back." She turned and walked towards the nurse's station, holding Wyatt tightly.

Leo went over to Piper and put his hand on her stomach as he kissed her.

He healed her enough to take the edge off the pain but not enough to make the doctors suspicious. "I'll come back to get you tomorrow." He told her as he moved away. Paige returned with the doctor.

"Usually we like to keep C-section babies for 24 hours for observation..."

Chris began to whimper, although inwardly he groaned at his display of weakness.

The doctor continued, "...But since he seems so healthy and alert, I guess we can send him home with you tonight. I just need you to sign the release form, Dad."

Leo signed the form and handed the clipboard back to the doctor. "Thank you for everything, Doctor."

"Don't mention it." He said to Leo and then he turned to Chris. "And I'll see you in a few weeks for a checkup." _Not if I can help it_ Chris thought determinedly


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer – I do not own Charmed.  Or Drew or any of the characters.  Which one of those things you think I would revise?  Yeah, anyway…

Thank you for all the reviews.  I'm probably not going to respond to many of them personally, but if you don't mind leaving one anyway, that's cool too, extra incentive for me to get moving on uploading the next chapter.  I wasn't planning on having more than the first chapter up this week but you guilted me into it, so here you go.

Phoebe and Paige took Wyatt in the car while Leo made his way with Chris to a darkened hallway.  He glanced around casually and then orbed home.

"I know you're tired little man, but how about we get you some jammies before you go to sleep?" 

Had Chris been able to speak he would've said "Nah, don't worry about it, I'm comfortable.  How about we work on getting me out of this body _and back into my own_?!  Instead he looked up at Leo and sighed.  

As Leo carried him upstairs, humming softly to him, Chris was suddenly glad Phoebe had brought Leo back down to be a part of his life.  _If I'd had my way in all of this, he probably wouldn't be here right now, and he'd probably be even more distant with baby me because of…well, me.  I'm going to lose my mind._  He thought wryly.  _If I haven't already._

They walked through Piper's room to the nursery Phoebe and Paige had thankfully finished at the last moment, Chris could hear the car pull into the driveway.

_Alright, time for a plan B.  They obviously aren't impressed with orbing, do I have my TK?  Only one way to find out.  _He looked around the small room, the only thing he could see that would be small enough for him to TK to himself was one of Wyatt's pacifiers lying on top of the bureau.  _Gross, baby germs_.  He thought, and then realized the irony of that logic. 

He focused on the pacifier and tried to move it with his mind.  He could feel the beginnings of the pull, and then he lost sight of it as Leo set him down on the changing table.  _Great timing dad.  _

Leo was rummaging through one of the bureau drawers.  "It looks like you're going to have to wear Wyatt's hand-me-downs until your mother is up and around.  Which do you prefer," He held up two sets of PJ's, "froggies, or duckies?"  Getting no reply from Chris, Leo tossed the duckies back into the drawer and shut it. 

_I could orb to Aunt Phoebe again.  _Chris thought hurriedly.  _No, it wouldn't work, then she'd want to change me.  And the faces, ugh.  _

Chris closed his eyes and braced himself for the humiliation.  _I can't wait till I get home and I have to hear, 'Don't take that tone with me young man, I used to change your diapers' and be able to remember this day.  _

He was lying completely still with his eyes shut and nothing was happening.  Cautiously he opened his eyes to find Leo staring at him with a sad and somewhat concerned look on his face.  "I don't know what Big Chris told you before he… well…what he told you before you were born, but I'm not a bad guy, really.  I want to be there for you and I want for you to love me as much as I love you…" 

He broke off what he was saying as Paige walked into the nursery with a warm bottle.  Phoebe trailed behind with a few bags of baby supplies from her car. 

"We thought he might still be hungry since he didn't eat at the hospital."  Paige said holding up the bottle. 

"Ok, but I haven't dressed him yet," Leo started.

"Oh, don't worry about it, I got it." Paige said  "Diaper.  PJ's."  She said motioning them towards Chris.  Beneath the blanket the pajamas appeared on his body.  Leo unwrapped the blanket and set it aside.

_Have I ever told you you're my favorite aunt, Aunt Paige?  _Chris smiled at Paige, monumentally relieved that at least for now he'd been spared one indignity.

Off of Leo's stern look.  "What?  We don't want the bottle to get cold, do we?"  She handed Leo the bottle.  "I'll be in my room if you need anything, Leo.  Phoebe too, right Phoebe?" 

"Oh, but I still want to… Oh… right, you guys probably want to have some father son bonding time."  She came over and kissed his cheek.  "Goodnight baby Christopher."

As Paige and Phoebe exited the room for their separate rooms, Leo bent down and scooped Chris up. "You want a bottle before bedtime buddy?  C'mon, why don't we sit over…"  Leo faltered as he looked at the bed where Chris had just died in his arms hours ago. 

Chris didn't immediately understand what Leo was staring at, and then he realized what Leo must be feeling.  _He probably thinks he failed me.  I should've told him it was my own stupidity that got me knifed in the gut; maybe he wouldn't feel so bad.  _

Chris patiently waited for Leo to snap out of his funk, staring up at him quietly.  He could see tears in his dad's eyes and it was torture not to be able to comfort him and tell him it wasn't his fault. 

Plus, he was going to be fine as soon as he got through to someone around here that he sitting right in front of them.  _I hope I will be.  Can they get me back with my body?  Where did it even go to?_

From across the hall came the sound of Wyatt calling for Leo.  Leo sighed and looked down at Chris.  "Why don't we just go sit in there with Wyatt?  You haven't really met your older brother yet.  I'm sure you two are going to be a handful together when you're older." 

Chris tensed up slightly at the mention of seeing Wyatt.  He recalled stories his mom had told him about what Wyatt used to do when he was jealous of the attention Chris was getting.  _Please let him be nicer to baby me now that he's not the future of all evil.  _

Chris knew that babies were jealous and spoiled by nature and Wyatt's good or evilness probably didn't have anything to do with whether he got orbed out onto the front lawn in a fit of jealousy, but he could hope maybe this time around Wyatt would accept his little brother.

Leo grabbed Chris's blanket from the dresser and then took him into Wyatt's room.  "Hey buddy, there's someone you need to meet.  This is Chris.  He's your little brother."  Leo held Chris close to Wyatt.

Wyatt frowned and Chris braced himself for involuntary orbing.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer, I don't own Charmed or any of the characters, only the plot/storyline is mine, and the dialogue. You guys have no idea how much you write this story.

Oh, and the story wasn't intended to just be a comedy, although I do love torturing Chris, The emotional drama is there too, which you'll see a lot more of in this chapter. I know it's been a little action lite, but I do have something I think is good coming up. Anyway, read on, oh devoted reader.

* * *

Being orbed away always felt a little different from regular orbing. Rather than starting inside his body and working outward, the orbs grabbed him from the outside and whisked him away before he could react.

When the orbs released him and dissipated, Chris found himself lying in his crib.

_Well, I guess this is better than the front yard_. He thought. _If I orb back to dad, Wyatt's probably just going to orb me somewhere else_. He sighed and rolled over. _Looks like I'm spending the night like this._

Just then, Leo ran into the room, the panic on his face and unshed tears in his eyes obvious to Chris, even in the darkened room. His son had disappeared from his arms for the second time that day.

"Chris…" he started, the tears finally spilling down his face, "I'm so sorry."

Leo crossed quickly to the crib and picked his son up and hugged him fiercely, his face pressed to the top of Chris's head smelling the sweet fragrance of his skin, his hair.

"I'm so sorry Chris. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't save you, I tried, I really tried. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me, Chris. Please." Leo rocked back and forth until he realized Chris had fallen asleep. He gently set Chris down in the crib and covered him with a blanket.

Leo was surprised to see tears on Chris's cheeks too even though he hadn't heard him cry. He wiped away the tears with his thumb and sat down in the rocking chair in the corner, intending to watch him all night, but he soon lost the battle against sleep and drifted off into a fitful slumber.

* * *

Chris woke up to the sun streaming into his eyes through the bars of the crib. He was momentarily disoriented as he stretched and yawned.

_Bars on the bed? And why is Leo over…_ he abruptly remembered the events of the past night and his predicament looking at Leo's face, still puffy from crying. His heart twisted painfully as he remembered Leo rocking him and apologizing to him last night. Not to the baby about Wyatt, but to Chris for losing him.

He wondered how long Leo had sat up watching him sleep, and decided not to wake him.

Chris lay in bed for nearly an hour trying to recall something, anything from the book that he could use to either communicate with his family or tip them off that he wasn't just a baby, he was a 23 year old man, that he still had his memories, but he kept coming up blank.

He couldn't recite spells and it was unlikely he'd even get close to the book with them being so protective of him

Chris's stomach started to rumble. He looked over at Leo, but he was still sleeping.

_Paige is usually an early riser, maybe she'll get me something to eat._

He paused, worrying about what Leo would do if Chris was gone when he woke up. _It would be completely normal for Paige or Phoebe to come get me to feed me, err, the baby. He'll be fine._

He found the trigger spot more easily this time and within seconds he was laying on Paige's comforter. His timing was perfect, she was blow drying her hair at the mirror and saw him orb in behind her.

She quickly shut off the blow-dryer and turned to the bed, hands on her hips. "You are going to be very difficult to keep track of aren't you?"

Chris just smiled widely at her. "How about we get you something to eat." She suggested, crossing to the bed and picking him up carefully. She settled him in her arms before orbing downstairs.

"Now don't go telling your mother we orbed downstairs today, that's just our little secret, okay?" Paige orbed the playpen down from the attic into the middle of the kitchen. "You don't need to mention that either, she has this problem with personal gain, but if I'm going to have to fight demons on a daily basis, I see no problem with using a little magic when convenient."

She started to set him down in the playpen, then hesitated, and Chris knew instantly that she too was having difficulty with his death.

Paige pulled him back close to her and then walked to the refrigerator with him. "You're probably going to get tired of us holding you all the time." She began as she pulled the formula out of the fridge. "But you only have yourself to blame, well, your future self that is." She continued pouring formula into a bottle and screwing the lid on tightly. "I don't know what your mother will do when she finds out we let the future version of you die." She filled a frying pan with water and set it on the stove to warm up with the bottle in the middle of the pan. "I don't even know if we should tell her… I know Leo can reform, but I can't."

_Oh no,_ thought Chris. _If they don't tell Mom I died, she'll have no reason to try to find me. Mom's the one person most likely to want to find out what happened to me after I died, and she's also the most likely to sense that something is wrong with baby me, If they don't tell her, I could be stuck here until I learn to talk!_ His anxiety temporarily got hold of him and he started to cry and squirm in Paige's arms.

"Hey, hey, it's all right. I won't let anything happen to you, I promise. I will always keep you safe" Paige rocked him back and forth until he finally got control of his emotions again.

_This sucks_. He thought, still pouting a little. _And now I'm really hungry, can't a guy get breakfast here?_

As if she read his mind Paige moved to the stove, checked the bottle on her wrist and then offered to him.

Chris looked at the bottle warily, _I am never going to live this down._ He thought miserably. His stomach gave an even louder growl. Chris sighed and gave up control to his instincts. _This stuff isn't half bad, better than milk. _He mused. He quickly finished the bottle, and then burped on his own.

"You're the most self-sufficient newborn I've ever seen." Paige looked at him curiously, like she was trying to figure something out. "You know, your older self was very independent too. Well, you better not start running off to vanquish demons on your own until you can tie your own shoes, you hear me?

Chris didn't notice what Paige was saying, he was too busy staring at the magnetic letters on the refrigerator.

_That's perfect! I can spell something out for her. Do we have all the letters for "help"? _He spotted the "P" and with a little effort, he telekinetically plucked it from the fridge and brought it over to hover in front of him.The "E" was in the upper-right-hand corner, and he pulled that one towards them too, to spin in front of the "P".

He found the H and started to bring it over to join the other letters when he and Paige heard Leo calling for them.

Paige orbed his letters back onto the refrigerator. "We can play with those later, but for now, we need to go see your daddy so he doesn't flip out on us. Chris started to protest but they were already orbing upstairs.

_Why can't I get a break here? _Chris screamed in anger. Before Paige could even hand him over to Leo, he was having a full blown temper tantrum.


	5. Chapter 5

"What's the matter with him?" Leo asked Paige, bouncing Chris and shushing him.

"I have no clue, I fed him and he was playing with the magnetic letters on the fridge, then I put the letters back when you called and he started, well, that. "She said gesturing to the red-faced screaming infant in Leo's arms.

"He was playing with letters?" Leo asked. "He's less than 24 hours old."

"I think he just liked the colors" Paige guessed. "Maybe he needs to be changed." She suggested. Chris screamed louder. "Do you want me to do it?" She held her arms out.

"No, it's ok, I've got it. Thanks for feeding him." Leo turned around and headed back into the nursery towards the changing table, still trying to quiet him down.

_Get a grip Halliwell! _Chris was trying desperately to calm himself down but it was like he was having a panic attack. Nothing he told himself was helping.

_Next time I'm downstairs I'll just try again. It's not a big deal. Why did I even get so angry about in the first place? _The tantrum was still going full force, even though he couldn't figure out why and his throat was starting to hurt.

_The sound of a baby crying is no less awful when you're the one screaming_. He thought irritatedly. The absurdity of the thought made him laugh to himself and he felt the anger and the panic start to drain away as quickly as they had come. He took a deep breath.

_I really have to learn to control my temper._ He realized with a laugh.

"There, that's my brave little guy." Leo praised him as he set Chris down on the changing table.

Chris was still trying to catch his breath when he realized what was happening. _Should I orb back to Paige or to Phoebe? It's not like I even need to be – oh god! What the hell died and took up residence in the diaper?_

The smell burned his eyes. _I'm being punished._ He thought. _Leo knows I sent him to __Valhalla__ and this is his way of getting back at me. No wait, I'll bet it's Paige and Phoebe for getting them stuck in that alternate reality with Gith._

He already knew there was no way his family was responsible for his current humiliating state. His mind was just trying to distract him from the fact that Leo was changing his diaper and powdering his butt. _  
_

_I wonder if it's possible for someone to actually die of humiliation. _He wondered over-dramatically.

"There, that's better isn't it?" Leo asked him as he finished securing the diaper.

Chris gave him what he hoped was a withering glare, but he doubted it looked as threatening as he intended.

Leo turned his back to go to the dresser and when he turned back around he was holding the ducky outfit. _Wonderful.__ Just wonderful. _He closed his eyes and sighed.

"You get to spend some time with your Aunt Phoebe today while I go get your mom." Leo informed him as he dressed him.

Chris only half-paid attention to his Dad's idle ramblings as he tried to figure out his next move. His best chance to communicate with someone was the hearing secret thoughts spell, but he'd have to get someone else to cast it.

_I think if I orb myself to the attic, Phoebe or Paige should follow me, and then it's just a matter of getting the book to the right page._

Leo stopped talking to him and picked him up to hold him at eye level.

Chris held his breath wondering if Leo had somehow figured out one of his clues, or realized something was wrong with him.

"You know, every time I look at you I can only see him. I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse, but I promise you'll never have the future he had." Leo looked like he was going to say more but instead he pulled Chris close to him and hugged him tightly.

Chris could hear Leo's heart pounding slowly, comfortingly. He forgot his agenda for the day and let himself relax in his dad's arms. _  
_

_Even if I never see the future I changed, this is perfect, this makes it all worth it._ All he wanted his whole life was to feel like his dad loved and wanted him and now he had that.  
  
Chris didn't know how long they stayed like that but too soon he felt Leo tense up almost imperceptibly and he recognized it as getting a call from a charge.

_Probably mom._ He guessed. _I'm not sure if she'll figure out the problem, but I'll try the spell with Phoebe and Paige just in case she doesn't. _

Leo carried him down the hallway to Phoebe's room and deposited him in the spare bassinette Phoebe had purchased for him.

Leo kissed his forehead and Chris briefly flashed back to lying on his mom's bed dying. He saw pain in his father's eyes and wondered if he was thinking back to the same moment.

"I'll be back soon with your mom, ok? You be good for your Aunt Phoebe." Leo reluctantly walked away as Phoebe walked into her room.

"Hey Leo, did Piper call yet?" She questioned while towel drying her hair.

"Yeah, I'm on my way to get her right now, call me if anything happens to him, ok?" Leo worriedly told her.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine, go get your wife." She coaxed with a glint in her eye.

Leo relaxed a little and smiled at the mention of Piper. "Ok, I'll be back shortly." He looked once more at Chris lying innocently in the bassinette before orbing out

Phoebe took two steps towards Chris before he orbed out to the attic.

She froze. "Uh oh, I baby-sit for two seconds and I've already lost him. Paige!" She shouted running downstairs to find the sister with the sensing power.

* * *

Chris orbed into the attic onto one of the heavily-abused couches. He heard Phoebe's panicked shout and winced. _Sorry Phoebe, but I'm desperate._ He thought. _Now all I have to do is wait for them to find me. Easy enough._

A glowing blue triquetra seared its way into the attic wall across the room, and a tall figure stepped out. Silhouetted against the portal, Chris couldn't tell who or what it was.

Chris suddenly realized the danger of being a newborn completely alone in a house that stood as a beacon to every demon on the West coast. _Uh Oh._He thought worriedly.


	6. Chapter 6

The Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed or any of the characters that appear in the story, just the plot. 

My Personal Disclaimer: Sorry it took longer for this chapter, I was on vacation up north with no internet, but the up-side is that I had a lot of time to sit on the beach and write so it's a lot longer... it's actually like 3 chapters but I couldn't bring myself to chop it up, enjoy!

* * *

As the light faded and the portal receded back into the wall, Chris immediately recognized his older brother now standing in the attic with him.

He looked different than the last time Chris had seen him. His hair was a little shorter than it had been, and it was tamer. He wore dark-colored blue jeans and a light blue hooded sweatshirt.

Wyatt took a few cautious steps into the attic looking around before seeing Chris lying on the couch against the far wall.

_Wyatt? Why is he here? Does he know what happened to me? Is he good? He looks good, and he seems… unsure? That's something I've never seen. Should I stay up here with him or try to find someone?_

A million questions flew through his head many too quick to even recognize. Before Chris could make a decision, Phoebe and Paige orbed in between Wyatt and Chris. Paige was holding the mini version of Wyatt, who didn't look happy to have been pulled away from his breakfast.

Phoebe ran to Chris and scolded him. "I don't know why you keep doing that, are you trying to scare us to death? What Paige?!" She turned to face Paige, who was urgently tapping her shoulder and finally noticed the stranger with them in the attic.

Phoebe hastily scooped Chris up from the couch to protect him. "Who are you?" Phoebe demanded warily.

"I'm, uh, him." Wyatt said distractedly looking at his younger self who was likewise staring back at him. And then, noticing that Paige was eyeing the potions shelf; "Whoa, wait, I'm not evil, don't shoot." He put his hands up in front of his body in an 'I'm innocent' stance. "I'm here for Chris, to bring him back. And to thank him."

Paige and Phoebe looked at eachother, neither one wanting to say out loud that Chris was dead.

Chris himself was a little confused. _Shouldn't he know I got killed by Gideon? And by extension, he should know that I'm right here in the baby, right? Unless they never told anyone, including Wyatt about me, future me._

Suddenly Piper and Leo orbed in, Piper was now completely healed by Leo and looking just a little tired. Leo let go of Piper and walked in front of the girls, putting himself between Wyatt and them.

"Leo?" Piper looked to him and then her sisters questioningly. "It's Wyatt." Leo said shortly, not taking his eyes off his eldest son. He cast an appraising gaze over the man in front of him

Wyatt flinched at the look his father was giving him. He knew from his original set of memories that he deserved much worse, but nothing in his new memories of the life Chris had given him and the rest of their family could help him deal with distrust or rejection from his father.

"Dad, please don't look at me like that. I can't… I'm not…" he trailed off and looked away and mentally tried to compose himself.

Chris was torn, a big part of him had been afraid of his older brother for almost as long as he could remember. That part of him wanted to orb back down to his crib, or maybe that was the baby instincts kicking in again.

But there was another part inside of him now, that part could tell this Wyatt wasn't the man he knew from his timeline. It was all wrong, the look, the behavior, the voice.

Chris decided to take a leap of faith, he took a deep breath and let the orbs come again and transport him from Phoebe's arms to Wyatt's across the room. He mentally slowed the orb to give Wyatt time to catch him before he materialized.

Wyatt held Chris carefully and stared down at him while Chris stared right back. Wyatt was a little surprised at Chris's quick trust in him. Growing up, in either timeline, Chris had always been the more cautious of the two brothers.

Wyatt chanced a look at his family to see their reaction to Chris's judgment of him. Paige and Phoebe still looked uncertain, but Leo seemed to trust Chris's judgment implicitly and Piper, drawing on Leo's faith in Chris and in turn, Wyatt, stepped forward and embraced him warmly.

When she finally let go of him, he handed Chris to her and looked to his father. For a minute, Leo didn't say anything and then he finally said simply "I'm so glad you're okay, Wyatt" and pulled him into a hug.

Chris was caught up in the moment and thrilled that Wyatt was good. He'd actually done it! He'd changed the future and saved his family. And then it dawned on him. He died, there wasn't going to be a happy ending for him. His body had evaporated and the only way he was able to be on this plane was as an inhabitant in the baby's body.

Once they exorcized him, so to speak, he'd have to move on. He realized he was in danger of doing something baby-like so he quickly stifled his emotions, something he'd become rather good at over the years. Only a single tear rolled down his cheek. No one noticed.

* * *

The family including both Wyatt's and Chris made their way downstairs to the family room so they could talk. Piper and Chris sat with Phoebe and Paige on the couch. Leo and Little Wyatt took one armchair, and adult Wyatt took the other.

Piper was trying to get a smile from Chris or any kind of emotion but instead he just lay in her arms with a distant look in his eyes.

"Leo, do you think something is wrong with Chris?" She quietly inquired, not taking her eyes off of him.

Leo handed Wyatt to Phoebe and sat on the arm of the couch, next to Piper. He held his hands over Chris and summoned his most valuable gift. His hands glowed, but after a few moments he pulled away.

"There's nothing physically wrong with him, maybe he's tired." Leo tried to quell Piper's fears. "Let me put him down for a nap, I'm sure he'll be fine after a little rest."

Chris could hear the exchange going on between his parents but he couldn't let himself get emotionally involved. He needed a little time to get his thoughts together and god knows he didn't want to get himself caught up in another tantrum.

He noticed his dad trying to heal him. _I don't think you can fix it that easily this time Leo. I don't know if anyone can._

He briefly entertained the idea of staying like this again. _I could be a child prodigy, get the best grades, go to a good school. I could have a chance to grow up with a big brother who wasn't so corrupted with power he took over the world. It really would beat the alternative._

He knew he couldn't do it, even if he really wanted to. It had been hard enough lying to his family when he came back to save them, and that was only for a year and a half. There was no way he could lie to them, impersonate their baby for twenty-some years.

Leo reached out for him and Chris heard him tell Piper he needed a nap. _No, I need to know why Wyatt's here._

Of course Leo couldn't hear him and started towards the stairs with Chris in his arms. Chris orbed away to his mom still sitting on the couch.

Leo masked his disappointment and told Piper, "I guess he wants you to do it." She stood up and took a few steps towards the stairs before Chris orbed away from her too and into Wyatt's surprised grip.

"Maybe he wants to stay down here with everyone else. If he's tired, he'll just fall asleep anyway, right?" Wyatt said, secretly happy that Chris seemed to be so comfortable with him.

Piper and Leo exchanged looks at Chris's strange behavior, for a baby, but shrugged it off and took their seats. Wyatt continued to hold Chris who seemed more alert now. He was staring at Wyatt again with an intensity that slightly unnerved the twenty-five year old. He couldn't pull his eyes away from Chris's dark green ones.

Piper finally moved her look from Chris to Wyatt. "You still haven't told us why you're here, Wyatt." She prodded gently

Wyatt tore his gaze from Chris and looked to his mother. "Right, well, this is going to be really difficult for you to hear, but to help Chris, you have to know."

He took another look at Chris before looking back at Piper. "Chris, your future Chris, and my brother, didn't come back to the future." He paused gauging her reaction. She looked confused more than anything else but indicated for him to continue.

Wyatt looked to his father, but Leo couldn't meet his eyes. Phoebe and Paige wouldn't look at him or Piper either. Piper's heart dropped as she quietly but urgently asked, "Wyatt, what happened to Chris?"

"He was stabbed by Gideon. Gideon was trying to get to me, or, him." He said pointing to his younger self. "Dad couldn't heal him because Gideon blessed the athame. Chris died before anyone could reverse the magic."

He let the sentence hang for a moment. That part of the story Leo, Paige and Phoebe knew about. They didn't, however, know about the rescue effort in the future.

Chris had renewed hope that he'd be freed from his predicament and at least be able to move on. _If Wyatt knows I died, but came back anyway, he's here to find my spirit. Enough with the dramatic pauses though, Wy._ He thought crossly. _Just finish what you're going to say._ Once more he had to check his emotions and take a deep breath to avoid doing something embarrassing.

Wyatt continued, despite the fact that by this point no one would look at him. "We had a plan though. We saw his death entered into the history books and created a spell that we could save him with. It's pretty damn hard to try to pull someone through time unless they're willing, especially someone as powerful as Chris. But it's easy to summon spirits or souls, and we realized that it would be fairly simple to pull a soul-less body through time too since it doesn't have a will to resist. The spell that we cast called Chris's body and spirit at the exact instant they separated and pulled them to the future, where we hoped we could rejoin them long enough to heal him."

_So why am I not hearing about this spell in the future instead of you coming to the past to tell us about it?_ Chris thought wryly and then decided it really wasn't as much fun to be sarcastic when no one could hear you and roll their eyes at you.

"His body came immediately, it materialized on mom's bed just as we expected, but his soul never came. At first we thought it had already moved on, but we checked the spirit realms and checked with Grams, and he wasn't in either place, besides, I knew he was still here.

When we cast the spell, I could feel it start to work and then something else, a stronger force, jerked him away from us. That's why I'm here." He finished, "to find his spirit and try to get it back with his body in the future."

Wyatt looked around the room to see their reactions. Piper still looked upset and shell-shocked. She was hearing about Chris's violent death for the first time. But everyone else looked excited that they still had a chance to save him.

"What are we waiting for?" Paige asked brightly jumping up from her place on the couch. "Let's find him."

Chris smiled for the first time since Wyatt had shown up. He let out a laugh of relief and happiness, which came out as a goofy-sounding giggle, but for once he didn't care. _I have another chance, I'm not going to die! Well, I already did technically, but I'm going to live!_

Phoebe looked at Chris and smiled at his happiness. "Do you think Chris is an empath?" She asked Wyatt. "He seems to feel what everyone else is feeling even though he doesn't understand what's going on."

"That is weird." Wyatt said looking closely at Chris. "He does have quite a few powers, but empathy was never one of them. Maybe his powers are enhanced this time around since dad was an Elder when he – you know." Wyatt said smiling at Leo.

"So where do you think he is?" Paige asked, ready to do whatever it took to find him.

"I'm going to try scrying first, but I'm not sure I'll be able to get anything but the baby version of him." Wyatt said standing up. "Did he leave anything here I can scry with?"

_Scrying won't help, you'll only find the baby, because I'm in him. Try the mind-link spell._ He thought to no one but himself. Paige was already orbing to the office at P3 to see if he left anything there.

Wyatt walked to Piper and handed Chris to her. "Don't worry, I'll find him." He told her confidently. She smiled and then looked at baby Chris, lost in thought.

"We can start with this." Leo announced coming back from the hall with one of Chris's sweatshirts. "Hopefully Paige can come up with something better, but it can't hurt to try with this."

Wyatt took the sweatshirt and jogged up the stairs, Leo bent over and kissed Piper gently and then smoothed Chris's hair fondly before orbing to the attic to help Wyatt.

"Hey, wait for me!" Phoebe called after them belatedly, jumping up from the couch and running up the stairs as fast as she was able with Wyatt held close to her hip.

"I guess it's just you and me now." Piper said to Chris. He really wanted to be upstairs, but he couldn't deliberately hurt his mom, so he stayed with her.

He made a mental note once again to apologize profusely to his mom as soon as he was able to. He was very aware of his mother's desire for a normal life, and having to rescue her future son's soul after he got himself killed and stuck in the past was anything but normal. She deserved better.

Paige orbed in, apparently excited with what she found. Chris looked to see what it was and saw his wallet clasped triumphantly in her fist.

He smiled to himself. _There's no way she found that by non-magical means._ He'd popped a piece of paneling loose from the corner of the room and tucked it into the wall. There were only a few dollar bills, which he'd realized he couldn't very well spend since they'd been printed way after 2004 and a family picture from when he was 6 and Wyatt was 8.

"If anything will work, this is it." She said showing Piper the picture.

A cool gust of wind blew the curtains into the room and made them all shiver. Paige's eyes lit up. "Do you think that's him trying to communicate with us?" She asked excitedly.

_They see me in the wind, but a baby that tries to spell out 'help' goes unnoticed._ He laughed at Paige's excitability. "So is everyone in the attic?" She asked Piper. "Yep, they're working off one of his sweatshirts though, so they'll be glad to see that. Paige held her hand out to Piper. "C'mon, I'll orb you two up there."

"No, Paige, I think I'd rather-"

"Piper, it's not going to help him to sit here and blame yourself or cry over the baby. You're his mother, we need you and he needs you."

Piper smiled sadly at her and blinked back tears. "I just can't help it, my son got killed trying to save us and I didn't even know about it."

"Piper, that's not your fault, we didn't want to tell you partly because you needed to conserve your strength and partly because we're cowards. And there's no way you can blame yourself for him dying. He knew what he was doing and he was, is, as much of an adult as any of us. We can fix this, but we need your help." 

She put her hand out again and Piper took it.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Charmed isn't mine, if it was Drew would be back next season instead of the boy-bander and the assorted other slampieces Kern seems to think the show needs. Anyway, back to the story---

* * *

In the attic Wyatt was already busy scrying, but not picking anything up, Leo was sitting across from him at the table silently willing the crystal to fall.  
  
Phoebe was sitting on the couch drumming her finger on a notepad, trying to come up with a stronger summoning spell and little Wyatt was sitting quietly at her feet.  
  
Everyone looked up as Paige orbed in with Piper and Chris. "Get anything?" Leo asked Paige hopefully.  
  
"Oh yeah," she answered holding up the wallet. "If this doesn't work, I don't know what will." She said confidently handing it to Wyatt.  
  
Chris boredly watched as Wyatt swirled the crystal only to have it immediately land on the manor.

"I knew it!" Paige exclaimed. "I thought I felt him downstairs just a minute ago, he must be haunting the house." "Paige…" Leo said to get her attention. "What?" She asked innocently. "That." Leo said pointing to little Chris. "Oh, right." She said sheepishly.

"Aunt Paige, could you orb mom someplace with Chris so we can try again?" Wyatt asked with a hint of a smile on his serious face. "Sure." She said quickly grabbing Piper's hand and orbing out.

Wyatt waited a beat before swinging the crystal out in a wide arc again hoping to find the house again, but instead it landed on P3. "I'm still finding little Chris." He said frustrated, running his hands through his hair.

"Here," Phoebe said crossing the attic. "Try this." She handed him a piece of paper torn from her notebook, which he quickly recited while holding the crystal in his fist.

_Two like souls in one time reside_

_ But only one we wish to find_

_ Send this crystal to the lost one's soul_

_ That we might restore him to whole._

The crystal glowed and Phoebe grinned. "I still got it." She laughed, but quickly grew serious again as the crystal dropped at P3. "Or not." She said sitting back down heavily.

She picked up her cell phone and called Paige back. Before Phoebe put the phone down Piper and Paige were right next to her on the couch.

"Ok, I'm ready for phase two if you are Aunt Phoebe." Wyatt tossed the crystal on the map, angry with himself for failing. He'd apparently inherited his mother's short temper.

"Wyatt, relax, we'll get him back." Leo put a fatherly hand on his son's shoulder. "Don't start blaming yourself, we have enough of that around here. You're only helping to fix this, so don't be so hard on yourself."

"Dad, do you forget who you're talking to? I turned evil and destroyed half the world. If this isn't my fault, I don't know whose it is. I nearly killed him so many times." He looked at his hands. "I killed innocents." He whispered.

"Wyatt, look at me." Leo told him sternly. "That was not you."

"Yes it was." Wyatt said so quietly Leo wasn't sure he heard him correctly. "I was giving the order to wipe out a coven of witches when in a blink I was in my old room here at the manor. The new memories hit me and knocked me out, they're the dominant set now, but I can still remember everything I did."

Despite Wyatt's confession, Chris didn't fear him or think less of him. He'd known from the beginning it wasn't Wyatt's fault, that's why he'd come back here. The guy was kidnapped and had his father's most trusted friend try to murder him. How could he be expected to believe in Good and Evil after that?

_Everyone in this family has issues._ He realized sadly, and then. _And I'm one to talk._ He decided to orb over to him, for what it was worth, but before he got the chance, he felt himself grabbed from his mother's lap by a swarm of orbs that left him in his crib once again.

_Wyatt. _He thought, annoyed with his older brother for being such a spoiled brat.

In the attic, little Wyatt was sitting on his mother's lap smiling happily. Piper was trying not to panic and looked to older Wyatt for help.

"Sorry." He told her. "I'll get him." And he orbed downstairs to the nursery.

Chris could see Wyatt's orb cloud materialize next to the crib and tried to glare at him. Wyatt laughed at him. "Hey, it wasn't me, technically, and don't worry, you'll more than get even with him, err, me soon enough.

_Hey, I wonder if I can get him to follow me to the kitchen so I can try again with the letters._ Chris started to orb out but Wyatt pulled him back.

"Hey, don't even try that, mom and dad would kill me if I lost you. Let's go back to the attic." Wyatt hoisted Chris up and over the bars of the crib as he orbed.

When they got back to the attic, Paige and Phoebe were busy setting up for the summoning spell.

"I'm using the spell that's in the book from when I was having high school flashbacks that they used to summon me, but I modified it a little to call a spirit or whatever he is."

Phoebe lit the last candle in the circle and set the lighter aside. "Okay, I think we're ready."

"Do you need me for the spell?" Wyatt asked her. "No, it's power of three." Phoebe said gesturing for her sisters to join her outside the circle.

Piper handed Little Wyatt off to Leo and apprehensively took Phoebe and Paige's hands

_This might actually work. If the spell is worded right and strong enough, it could summon me out of the baby. Please let it work._

Around the circle the girls were already chanting

_ Out of space and out of time_

_ Is he that we search for with this rhyme_

_ Drawing on the Power of Three_

_ We summon this soul of light energy._

_ Be he far or be he near_

_ Bring us the spirit of Chris Halliwell here._

Chris felt a strong pulling sensation just like the one he felt when he died, but his body, the baby's body wasn't letting go of his soul as easily as his adult body had when it was nearly dead. _C'mon, just a little more._ He thought hopefully.

To everyone else in the room it looked like the baby's soul was being ripped from his body. Piper gasped in horror and pulled the closest candle out of the circle. The connection broken, Piper walked quickly to adult Wyatt, who handed Chris to her, and then she walked out of the attic wordlessly.

"The wording of it was fine, it should've worked." She looked to Leo. "I could try to rework it." She offered.

"No, thanks, but no, we'll find another way." He said quickly, and then left to go find Piper.

Phoebe looked at her watch. "Do you think we should start dinner?" She asked Paige. "We need to make sure Piper eats something."

"I'm game if you are." She said jokingly to cover her nervousness. Seeing her nephew's soul being torn from his body wasn't exactly what she expected to get from the spell and now the thought of trying again made her afraid for both Chris's.

Phoebe and Paige exited leaving a conflicted and upset Wyatt standing there staring after them. After a moment's hesitation, Paige reappeared in the attic doorway,

"We're nowhere near giving up, so don't worry. Once we deal with Piper and get recharged we'll be back. You just get started on the next step." She waited long enough to see his reassured smile and then ran downstairs to protect the kitchen from Phoebe

Wyatt took a deep breath to calm himself down and then resumed his seat at the table with a notebook and pencil


	8. Chapter 8

Chris was getting extremely tired of being carried everywhere and having to go wherever everyone else wanted him to go. He needed to pace, to throw things, to vent. Instead he couldn't even let himself get properly angry because then he'd probably have another temper tantrum.

He forced himself to take deep breaths and vowed to destroy something as soon as he was capable. When his anger finally subsided he looked to his mom who was taking him to her room. She walked into the bedroom and softly closed the door behind her, leaning on it for a moment for support. She steeled herself against the flood of emotions coursing through her and then walked over to the bed and sat down.

Chris was surprised at how calm she was and mentally chastised himself for being so immature and self-involved. _I'm not the only one affected by this. _He realized_. I need to fix this mess as much for them as I do for myself._ His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Piper ignored it and Leo entered anyway, closing the door after him. He looked to Piper and she wordlessly gave him the ok to come sit with her and Chris. He sat down on his old side of the bed next to her.

Piper gathered Chris closer to her and then leaned her head on Leo's shoulder, never taking her eyes away from Chris's. Leo put his arm around Piper's shoulder and stroked her hair.

Any residual anger Chris had was instantly gone. The love he had for his parents overrode everything else he was feeling. He looked at Leo and saw his dad smiling back at him. The feelings of safety and happiness were overwhelming to Chris, who'd had his defensive walls up since she'd died and Leo had left him permanently at Wyatt's mercy.

He shrugged off the bad memories easily. _That will never happen. The only place it ever exists will be inside my head. And Wyatt's_ he amended. He looked back to his mom and yawned loudly. _Is it night already? I'm exhausted._ He looked at the clock on the nightstand. _3pm__? Damn baby body. _He tried to suppress the next yawn but it came anyway.

Piper disengaged herself from Leo. "He needs a nap." She told him softly. She padded across the room to the nursery and gently set Chris down in the crib. Her bittersweet smile was the last thing he saw before his eyelids finally dropped closed.

* * *

Chris slowly woke up from his deep sleep but kept his eyes closed. _Okay, I fell asleep, but they kept working on it and got me back in my body. When I open my eyes I'll be me again and in my own bed._ He opened his eyes and cringed when he saw the mobile spinning above his head. _So much for the power of positive thinking._

He stretched and then tried to locate someone with his sensing power. It felt like the power was working, but he couldn't expand it any farther than the nursery. _Okay, weird. No problem, they're probably in the attic anyway._ He orbed up and out of the crib but when he got to the ceiling he hit a barrier. _Ouch. _He involuntarily let out a whimper as he landed hard back in the crib.

_Not good. What happened to my powers? And where are mom and dad? _He spotted the baby monitor sitting on the dresser with the red light on. _They're probably waiting for me to cry before they'll come down here._ He suddenly remembered the noise it made when it got shut off, back when Paige and Phoebe conjured Mr. Right. Chris squinted at the switch and it shut off.

Less than 10 seconds later, 3 sets of orbing lights appeared and he could hear someone else running down the attic stairs. Leo, holding Piper's hand, Big Wyatt and Paige materialized and scanned the tiny room for the threat. Finding nothing they relaxed slightly.

Leo, looking at Chris's happy smile was the first to realize he'd turned it off himself. "Just like Wyatt setting off Paige's demon alarm." Leo said proudly.

"I told you he'd be fine." Paige said knowingly. "We blocked the room from any kind of magic going in OR out, there's no way a demon could've gotten in."

Phoebe burst in the door with little Wyatt in her arms. "What happened, is he okay? I can't believe you guys left me!" She said in one breath.

_They protected the room from magic? Probably because of the soul-sucking incident I guess. That means that everything they've worked on while I was asleep has been for nothing. Great._

Wyatt was looking at Chris oddly. "I don't get it, he set off the baby monitor knowing it would get our attention?"

"Well, you did the same thing when you were a baby. You almost got your daddy killed too." Piper said picking Chris up and bouncing him.

"Yeah, but I set off the alarm knowing you guys always came running. He turned off the monitor, but it didn't make a loud noise that would get our attention, and we'd never come running before for him to learn that we would…"

_Yes! C'mon Wyatt, you're right, keep going!_ Chris would've orbed to him or tk'd something at his head, but the bouncing was making him a little dizzy.

Paige walked over to Wyatt and clapped her hand on his shoulder. "Hey, don't be jealous, you were a smart baby too." She said patronizingly. Wyatt rolled his eyes and grinned at her.

_Foiled again._ Normally he would've been angry at Paige's interruption, but it was getting easier to control his temper. _Another quirky side effect to being trapped like this,_ he supposed.

Paige and Wyatt orbed back to the attic. "Like hell I'm taking the stairs again." Phoebe fumed, annoyed at being the only one in the household to use the stairs anymore. "Wyatt!" Phoebe and little Wyatt were pulled up to the attic in a cloud of orbs and Chris was left alone with Piper and Leo.

Piper set Chris down on the changing table. From his point of view it looked like her and Leo were converging on him. _No way in Hell, not again. _He thought and orbed up with the rest of the family in the attic. Piper and Leo exchanged confused looks before he took her hand to follow their wayward infant.

Phoebe and Paige were already in the attic on the couch watching Wyatt pace when Chris orbed in on Paige's lap. "Oh, hey you. Running from your parents again?" Paige asked him semi-seriously while adjusting him in her arms. _You have no idea_ Chris laughed.

"Hey Wyatt, do you think Baby Chris could help you find Big Chris?" Phoebe asked hopefully.

"The only thing I'm going to get from that Chris is 'goo-goo gaa-gaa,'" Wyatt said pausing his pacing for a moment as his parents orbed in.

_Goo-goo gaa-gaa?__ I'm a way smarter baby than you were Wyatt._ Chris huffed in annoyance, and then realized he was starting to scare himself with his thinking and tried to listen to what his mother was saying to Paige and Phoebe.

"…I'm telling you, there's something wrong with a baby that doesn't want to be held or fed or changed." Piper ranted. "Honey, I already tried to heal him, he's perfectly healthy, he's probably just excited that Wyatt's here. Plus, the emotions are running high around here, he's probably picking up on our anxiety. You need to stop worrying sweetie." "Leo, I can't, I'm his mother, I can just tell something's wrong."

Chris looked over to Wyatt who had stopped pacing and finally sat down on a wicker chair. "Where the hell are you Chris?" Wyatt said quietly to himself. Chris orbed over to him _I'm right here, you people are just too dense to notice. _

Wyatt looked down at Chris shocked. There was no way a newborn would know his own name, even if the rest of the family thought he was some kind of wonder-kid. Wyatt looked over to the couch where Piper was still vehemently insisting that something was wrong with Baby Chris, and then looked back to the person on his lap. His eyes widened. "Chris?" he whispered.

He could feel the wheels turning in his head. _All the spells, they were for Big Chris but they kept finding Baby Chris. The baby monitor. The independent streak, always orbing off on his own. It all fits…._ "Oh my God"

Wyatt jumped up from the chair and walked quickly to the Book of Shadows flipping through it to the spell he and Chris had frequently used when trying to avoid getting into trouble sneaking out or causing some other kind of mischief. The Mind-Link spell. Careful to substitute Chris's name into the spell so that he wouldn't be hearing everyone else's private thoughts he quickly lit a nearby candle and recited.

_As flame lights shadow as truth ends fear_

_Open Chris's locked thoughts to my minds willing ear_

_May the smoke from this candle into everywhere creep_

_Bring his inner most voice to my mind in speech._

"Chris?" Wyatt asked again holding him up at eye level to inspect him. "_Goo-goo gaa-gaa."_ Chris deadpanned, and then; "_Wyatt, please get me out of here."_


	9. Chapter 9

In case you hadn't noticed, Chris's thoughts are now in quotation marks as well as italics, just because now everyone can hear them.

I've had a few reviews that tell me that Chris shouldn't be able to do this or that because he's a newborn, but the muscles are there, they're just unused and undeveloped. He knows how to control his powers through experience, so he can use them now, although they're not as powerful and it took him a little more effort to do so. That's kind of how the physical stuff is. The muscles are there so if he really needed to it wouldn't be too difficult to roll onto his side or burp or whatever, because he knows which muscles to coordinate. And again, he's not running laps around the attic, so it's as realistic as it's gonna get, this is fan fiction ;)

Anyway, on with the story:

* * *

Wyatt blinked in surprise and his jaw dropped. All the clues had pointed to the baby, but he hadn't really expected to be right. This was just…. insane. There was no other word to describe this situation.

As Chris's predicament and everything he'd probably had to go through crossed his mind he laughed shortly and then stopped himself. "Chris…what….how….you…?" A smile was slowly pulling at the corners of his mouth and this time he couldn't stop himself from laughing.

_"Yeah, it's hilarious. I haven't stopped laughing since I got stuck like this."_ Chris glared and Wyatt laughed harder. "Oh, wow Chris, of all the things you've gotten yourself into, that _either_ of us have gotten into…. This tops _everything!_" Wyatt choked out between bouts of laughter. Most of it was really just from relief, he'd been terrified that he wouldn't be able to find Chris, and now that he had, he was overjoyed.

_"Would you mind not holding me like that? Your thumb is digging into my ribs."_ Chris complained to Wyatt. "Oh, sorry." Wyatt adjusted Chris and tried not to start laughing again. He failed miserably.

No one else could hear Chris, and they were all looking at Wyatt who appeared to be talking to himself and laughing uncontrollably.

"Well Piper, it looks like one grows up to be a paranoid neurotic and the other is schizophrenic. Congratulations!" Paige put her arm around Piper's shoulder and laughed at the glare that came her way.

"_Why does everyone call me neurotic? Wyatt, if you're not going to help me, at least give someone else the spell." _Chris complained good-naturedly. He didn't even care that Wyatt was laughing at him. He knew now, and he'd fix this.

"Okay, okay, I'm done, I'm sorry, really." Wyatt took a deep breath to calm down, and only then did he see the rest of his family staring at him like he'd lost his mind.

"This probably looks weird, doesn't it?" Wyatt asked rhetorically, he was about to continue when something apparently occurred to him. "I'll explain everything in a second, hang on." Wyatt flipped to a blank page in the notebook and started writing again.

"_What are you doing?"_ Chris asked curiously. Wyatt mumbled a spell under his breath and then turned his eyes to meet Chris's.

"_This. I just figured there are probably things you'll want answers to that I can't let them know about, so now you should be able to hear my thoughts too."  
_

_"Okay, how about telling me where you left my body. Or…" _Chris lost his train of thought as their Dad interrupted them.

"Wyatt?" Leo intoned cautiously. "Yeah dad, I'm working on it, just a second." "_Chris? I'm going to let them into the conversation so I only have to explain this once, ok?" "Fine, but hurry." _Chris said with his trademark anxiety and impatience.

Wyatt quickly jotted down the spell from the book, putting Chris's name in it again and then crossed the attic and handed it to Piper. She scanned the words and looked up at him questioningly.

"I know it doesn't make sense, just cast it. And hold Dad's hand so he's included." The girls shrugged and then recited the spell, looking back to Wyatt when they finished. "Well? Where is he?" Piper asked doubtfully.

"_Hi Mom."_Chris thought sheepishly. "Chris?" She gasped looking around the attic once more. "Where are you?"

"_I'm, uh, I'm…in the baby."_ He said, sounding extremely uncomfortable. All four pairs of eyes dropped to the baby in Wyatt's arms. Silence fell over the attic as they tried to process what they were hearing.

"_At least they're not laughing at me, like _some_ people." _Chris thought pointedly at Wyatt, trying to break the tension in the room. "I said I was sorry, and you have to admit it _is_ kind of funny."

Chris didn't reply, he was looking at Leo the only person not able to look at him. Instead he had taken a step back and was staring at the floor.

"_Dad?__ What's wrong? Hey, look at me."_ Leo slowly looked up to meet Chris's eyes. "I thought you were gone for good and it was all my fault that you…"

"_Dad, don't. It was not your fault. And you've already apologized to me anyway." _He added as an afterthought remembering last night when Wyatt had orbed him away from Leo. _  
_

_"All of you blame yourselves for me getting stabbed and keep apologizing to me, but you don't have to. It was my fault and no one else's."_

He paused to let his words sink in. "_But if you really want to make it up to me, I think there might be something you could do for me."_ He said playfully stating the obvious.

"Hey, now that we have Chris, we just need his body to put him back together…where is his body?" Paige asked giving Wyatt a quizzical look.

"It's still in the future, I'll have to go get it." "_Why didn't you just bring it with you?"_ Chris asked him disappointedly.

"Well, we weren't positive you were stuck here in the past, everyone else is off in different realms or planes still looking for you."

"_Everyone else?"_ Chris wondered, trying to ask what his family was like in the future.

"Future consequences, I can't tell you." Wyatt said doing his best impression of his younger brother's catch phrase. Privately he told Chris cautiously "If I tell you, you'd really have to guard your thoughts since they can read the surface of your mind."

Chris contemplated for a moment and then with a sigh said "_Tell me later, okay?"_ Wyatt nodded. "I should get back and let everyone know you're ok, and bring your body back with me so we can fix this."

"_Why don't you just take me to the future with you?"_ Chris asked hopefully.

"I don't think mom wants me running around, time traveling with her newborn all by myself, and we can't bring them to the future, so…" "_Okay, but-"_

"Hurry, I know, Chris." Wyatt smiles and resisted the urge to humiliate his brother with baby-talk or "the jiggle" "_Wyatt, don't even think about it"_ Chris warned.

Wyatt laughed. "I won't, but I can't say the same for them." Wyatt joked handing Chris to Piper. She held him awkwardly, afraid of making him uncomfortable by invading his personal space.

Chris misinterpreted the action as her being angry with him, and why shouldn't she be? He'd hijacked her baby's body and now she had to clean up after him, yet again, before she could get her son back.

Chris's runaway thought train of guilt and self-doubt was abruptly derailed as he felt him mom pull him close and hug him tightly.

"Hey, you _are_ my son, and we owe you everything for saving the future. Don't ever doubt how much I love you."

Chris looked up at her and saw that despite the smile from the irony of the situation, she meant every word. Leo moved closer and put his hand on Chris's. "I missed you, kid."

The almost too-sweet family moment was rudely interrupted by the flash of a camera. Phoebe laughed at Chris's angry outburst. "Aw, you know you'll look at this picture and laugh when you're older. C'mon Paige, I'll show you how to develop these."

"I'll be right back with his body." Wyatt walked over to the wall, quickly sketched out a slightly misshapen triquetra and waved his hand over it to reactivate the portal he'd come back through.

With one last confident wish-me-luck smile over his shoulder he stepped into the portal and disappeared into it.


End file.
